Qazaza

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Qazaza
NahalSorekStation.jpg
Remains of the Wadi al-Sarar Railway Station, on the Jaffa–Jerusalem railway line, located 3 km (2 mi) due north of the village.[1]
Qazaza is located in Mandatory Palestine
Qazaza
Qazaza
Arabic قزازة
Name meaning from personal name[2]
Also spelled Kezazeh, Kerazeh
Subdistrict Ramle
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Palestine grid 138/131
Population 940 (1945)
Area 18,829 dunams
Date of depopulation 9–10 July 1948[3]
Cause(s) of depopulation Influence of nearby town's fall
Current localities Israel Defense Forces base

Qazaza (Arabic: قزازة‎‎) was a Palestinian village in the Ramle Subdistrict of Mandatory Palestine, located 19 kilometers (12 mi) south of Ramla. It was depopulated in 1948.

History

A European traveler reported that he passed Qazaza in the 1860s on his way to examine a nearby tell.[4]

In 1882, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Kerazeh as "a small village of adobe and stone at the edge of the hills, with gardens and a well."[5]

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Qezazeh had a population of 472, all Muslims,[6] increasing in the 1931 census to 649, still all Muslims, in a total of 150 houses.[7]

The villagers maintained a village mosque and some owned shops. An elementary school was first established in Qazaza in 1922. In 1945 Qazaza joined with the villagers of Sajad and Jilya and established a common school for all the three villages. This school had 127 students at the time of its founding in 1945.[1]

The villagers cultivated grain, vegetables and fruits.[1]

In 1945 the population was 940, all Arabs, while the total land area was 18,829 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.[8] Of this, a total of 11,757 dunums were allocated to cereals, while 131 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards,[9] while 38 dunams were classified as built-up urban areas.[10]

1948 war and aftermath

During the countdown to the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the Haganah was ordered to demolish Arab houses in socalled "retaliatory measures". In this connection, Haganah units partially destroyed the home of the mukhtar of Qazaza, Abdullah Abu Sabah, on the 19 December 1947, in response to the killing of a Jew.[11] During the war Qazaza was defended by the Egyptian Army and local militiamen. Its population of an estimated 1,090 Arabs fled after the fall of a neighbouring town of Sajad. On 9 July 1948, as part of Operation An-Far, Israel's Givati Brigade captured the village.[citation needed]

On 16 July 1948, |Givati HQ informed General Staff\Operations that "our forces have entered the villages of Qazaza, Kheima, Jilya, Idnibba, Mughallis, expelled the inhabitants, [and] blown up and torched a number of houses. The area is at the moment clear of Arabs".[12]

Many of Qazaza's former inhabitants fled to Hebron, forming part of the 1948 Palestinian exodus.[13]

Today, the village lands are used by the Israel Defense Forces. As a closed military zone, it is not known what became of Qazaza's mosque, its elementary school (which had served the villages of Sajad and Jilya as well) or its more than 150 homes.[13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Khalidi, 1992, p. 405
  2. ↑ Palmer, 1881, p. 268
  3. ↑ Morris, 2004, p. xix, village number 265. Also gives cause of depupulation
  4. ↑ Mansell, 1862, p.506. Cited in Khalidi, 1992, p. 405
  5. ↑ Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 408
  6. ↑ Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Ramleh, p. 21
  7. ↑ Mills, 1932, p. 22.
  8. ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 68
  9. ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 116.
  10. ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 166
  11. ↑ Morris, 2004, p. 343
  12. ↑ Givati HQ to General Staff\Operations, 20:50 hours, 16 July 1948, IDFA 922\75\\1176. See also Givati Brigade, "Combat Page", 16 July 1948, IDFA 6127\49\\118. Cited in Morris, 2004, p. 437
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

Bibliography

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  • Mansell, A. L. (1863): "A Surveying Trip through the Holy Land." The Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle. January Issue:36-40. Cited in Khalidi, 1992.
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  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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External links

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